The company The Pullman Palace Car Company was a manufacturer for railroad cars.
The company had first class sleeping cars on all of the nation’s major
Pullman's first sleeping car
railroads. The company first made money when Pullman rented houses to the workers. He charged rents twenty to twenty five percent higher than the average amounts that were charged in and around Chicago. The company also sold food and supplies for the workers. However, this was not the only way that the company made money. Pullman bought water from Chicago for four cents for every 1,000 gallons, and sold it to the people in the town of Pullman for ten cents per 1,000 gallons.
George Pullman was the owner, who built the company as well as the town that the company was built in. Pullman started out as
George Pullman
a cabinetmaker and lived in New York. He had started working on sleeping cars in the early 1850s and moved to Chicago in 1855. The car that he first designed were popular with the railroad customers, with two washrooms, a linen locker, and an upper berth each. However, these new cars did not get Pullman any more contracts or more money. To change this, he continued to improve the designs of the cars and eventually created a unique lower berth design, which is still used in cars today.
The problems
Before this all happened, the workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company were well-paid and happy. However, the depression that began in 1893 was one of the main reasons that the whole strike began. Because the economy was bad, Pullman wanted to keep profits, so he lowered the labor costs. The company cut the number of workers from around 5,500 to around 3,300, and the wages were cut by an average of 25 percent. The workers did not think that this was far because they also did not get a lower price on the rent they were paying for the company houses.
People from the Union during the strike as a train drives by
The strike The event that became known as the most famous clash between labor and capital in the United States started on May 11, 1894, when the workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company called a strike. The leader of the ARU, American Railroad Union, Eugene Debs, recalled that during the strike, “the class struggle was revealed,” meaning that the strike and causes of the strike showed there was a big difference between classes. Because of the difference in power, the workers were forced to do something to change what they wanted changed. The company kept staying strong and the workers continued to boycott. However, the railroad companies attached the Pullman cars to trains that were carrying the U.S. mail, which gave the federal government a reason to interfere with the situation. Eventually, the American Railroad Union called off the boycott.
Reactions
Because of the outcome of the strike, Debs and other leaders of the strike realized that workers would never have power unless they controlled the government. However, civic leaders were horrified at the cause of the strike and what actually happened during the Pullman strike. Because of this, they started to find another solution to the problems with capital and labor. They formed a social system where the views of both capital and labor were recognized.
Impact/Effects
Because of the strike, railroad traffic in the United States came to a halt. In addition to the actual railroads, it led Americans to believe that there was a labor problem in America. Not only that, the leaders who took part in the strike were not rehired. Because of the problems, the Chicago Civic Federation was formed, which consisted of representatives from the public, the capital and the labor.
Pullman cars were still used on trains where the U.S. mail was being taken
Today
Today, this does not make a huge impact because of the fact that we now have airplanes and other forms of transportation. The Civic Federation is still in play today and it:
Promotes opportunities to reform local tax structures
Guards against wasteful expenditure of public funds
Serves as a technical resource to public officials and opinion leaders
References:
Lichtenstein, Neslon. State of the Union. Princeton University Press. New Jersey, 2002.
The companyThe Pullman Palace Car Company was a manufacturer for railroad cars.
The company had first class sleeping cars on all of the nation’s major
George Pullman was the owner, who built the company as well as the town that the company was built in. Pullman started out as
The problems
Before this all happened, the workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company were well-paid and happy. However, the depression that began in 1893 was one of the main reasons that the whole strike began. Because the economy was bad, Pullman wanted to keep profits, so he lowered the labor costs. The company cut the number of workers from around 5,500 to around 3,300, and the wages were cut by an average of 25 percent. The workers did not think that this was far because they also did not get a lower price on the rent they were paying for the company houses.
The strike
The event that became known as the most famous clash between labor and capital in the United States started on May 11, 1894, when the workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company called a strike. The leader of the ARU, American Railroad Union, Eugene Debs, recalled that during the strike, “the class struggle was revealed,” meaning that the strike and causes of the strike showed there was a big difference between classes. Because of the difference in power, the workers were forced to do something to change what they wanted changed. The company kept staying strong and the workers continued to boycott. However, the railroad companies attached the Pullman cars to trains that were carrying the U.S. mail, which gave the federal government a reason to interfere with the situation. Eventually, the American Railroad Union called off the boycott.
Reactions
Because of the outcome of the strike, Debs and other leaders of the strike realized that workers would never have power unless they controlled the government. However, civic leaders were horrified at the cause of the strike and what actually happened during the Pullman strike. Because of this, they started to find another solution to the problems with capital and labor. They formed a social system where the views of both capital and labor were recognized.
Impact/Effects
Because of the strike, railroad traffic in the United States came to a halt. In addition to the actual railroads, it led Americans to believe that there was a labor problem in America. Not only that, the leaders who took part in the strike were not rehired. Because of the problems, the Chicago Civic Federation was formed, which consisted of representatives from the public, the capital and the labor.
Today
Today, this does not make a huge impact because of the fact that we now have airplanes and other forms of transportation. The Civic Federation is still in play today and it:
References:
Lichtenstein, Neslon. State of the Union. Princeton University Press. New Jersey, 2002.
The Pullman Boycott of 1894: The Problem of Federal Intervention, Coston E. Warne, ed. (Boston: D.C. Heath, 1955 http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/content/eventsOfPullmanStrike.cfm
Howard, Josh B. Reactions to the strike. eHitory @ The Ohio State University, 2006. http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/content/reaction.cfm
Debs, E.V. How I became a socialist. New York Comrade, April, 1902. http://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1902/howi.htm.
Howard, Josh B. Pullman Strike. eHitory @ The Ohio State University, 2006. http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/mmh/1912/content/pullman.cfm.
ABC-CLIO. Pullman Strike. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abcclio.com/Search/Display.aspx?searchtext=pullman+strike+1894&type=simple&option=all&entryid=445660&issublink=true&fromsearch=false
ABC-CLIO. Pullman Palace Car Company. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abc\clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=23&entryid=253575&searchtext=pullman+company&type=simple&option=all&searchsites=4,5,6,7,8,
ABC-CLIO. George Pullman. 2010. http://www.americanhistory.abcclio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=22&entryid=247685&searchtext=pullman+strike&type=simple&option=all
The Employees are Ill treated. New York times. August 22, 1894. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archivefree/pdf?res=990DE2DB1730E033A25751C2A96E9C94659ED7CF
New York Times. Embracing More Railroads. The New York Times, June 29, 1894. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archiveree/pdf?res=9A01EEDF1531E033A2575AC2A9609C94659ED7CF
Pictography
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=4&entryid=271531&searchtext=pullman&type=simple&option=all&searchsites=4,5,6,7,8,
http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=4&entryid=290194&searchtext=pullman&type=simple&option=all&searchsites=4,5,6,7,8,
http://www.skagitriverjournal.com/Portal/PSM/F-SLoco1stDay.jpg
http://www.midcontinent.org/rollingstock/builders/pullman1.htm